” I am open to all suggestions as I haven’t really thought about it too much,” he adds. “We’ve been merrily going along our way but when I realized February marks the 25th anniversary of the site, I decided that would be a good time to step aside.”

On Thursday this week received an honorary degree from NUI Galway for his contribution to Irish society.

“It was completely out of the blue but I was delighted with it,” he concluded.